Fiona Cunningham, the Home Secretary's special adviser, resigns after the two
Cabinet ministers traded blows over who was to blame for the failure to stop
the rise of extremism in schools

Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, was forced to apologise to David Cameron, after an extraordinary public row with the Home Secretary over Islamic extremism in state schools.

Mr Gove was ordered to write a formal letter of apology to the Prime Minister and a separate letter apologising to the Home Office official in charge of counter-terrorism, who had been the target of his criticisms in the press.

One of Theresa May’s closest colleagues, her special adviser Fiona Cunningham, was also forced to resign after a Downing Street inquiry found she had been the source of an acidic briefing against Mr Gove last week.

No 10 announced the disciplinary action in an attempt to bring to an end a crisis that infuriated Mr Cameron and overshadowed last week’s Queen’s Speech. Mr Cameron acted after receiving the findings of an internal investigation into the row, led by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood.

The row erupted after Mr Gove briefed The Times newspaper — as an anonymous “source” — over the “Trojan Horse” plot to Islamicise secular state schools in Birmingham. He accused the Home Office of failing to “drain the swamp” of extremists and criticised Charles Farr, Mrs May’s counter-terrorism adviser, who is in a relationship with Miss Cunningham.

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When The Times went to print on Tuesday night, Mrs May hit back. The Home Secretary’s office published what had been a private Cabinet letter she sent to Mr Gove suggesting his department had failed to act over alleged plots to take over state schools in Birmingham.

Such letters between Cabinet colleagues are normally kept private. Mrs May’s decision to publish on the Home Office website at 12.24am on Wednesday has caused concern in Whitehall. It has now been taken down.

The Prime Minister was said to have been “deeply frustrated” that the row between two of his most senior ministers should have burst into the public domain on the day of the Queen’s Speech.

It overshadowed the morning’s radio and television reports on the Government’s announcement of its proposed legislation for the next year.

He took the extraordinary step of ordering Sir Jeremy to conduct an immediate investigation to establish the facts behind his Cabinet ministers’ war. Sir Jeremy is understood to have spoken to Mrs May and Mr Gove, as well as their advisers, and the Prime Minister’s head of communications, Craig Oliver.

Mr Cameron received Sir Jeremy’s report when he returned to Downing Street after the D-Day anniversary commemorations in France.

Until Friday night, Mrs May was said to have been fighting to keep Miss Cunningham in her post. Her departure will be a significant blow to the Home Secretary, who senior Tories say has been building up her power base in preparation for a future leadership campaign.

However, Downing Street sources indicated that Miss Cunningham had paid the price for the strength of the Home Secretary’s retaliation against Mr Gove. She was identified as the aide to Mrs May quoted anonymously as suggesting that Mr Gove’s failure to deal with extremism in schools “scares me”.

Mr Gove had earlier denied that the Government had been damaged by his public row or that he was considering his position in the Cabinet. Mr Cameron spoke in person to Mr Gove and while sources indicated that he had no desire to lose such a “talented minister”, he was not prepared to put up with his behaviour.

Labour sought to step up the pressure on Mr Gove over the row. Tristram Hunt, the shadow education secretary, accused the two feuding Conservatives of serious failures.